Is it the natural abundance of vitamin D, or the energy boost of eating fresh foods, or those things we call vacations that remind us how life should be?
Everyone feels the happiness, the ease, of summer. This year I noticed something a bit new, though. I’ve spent the last several years developing a critique of current American “civilization” that began with a deepening awareness of the perilousness of climate change. It expanded–because I’m a critic by nature–to include my understanding of what Peak Oil was going to mean, to seeing the effects of our economic recession as a symptom of collapse, to a sense of the depth of cultural denial of the crisis. I’ve faced real despair about the path of human existence–not to put too fine a point on it! It’s been rough. And of course you’re all here with me, aren’t you?
And then, the summer of 2010 dawned, and I was happy. I was happy despite the heat, the ongoing saga of building the JP Green House, and some pretty serious family trouble. I was so happy creating my garden (out of a weedy and abandoned city lot) t... Read more
